The Tony Awards opened tonight with a message from host James Corden to the victims of the massacre in Orlando:
“You are not on your own right now. Your tragedy is our tragedy. Theatre is a place where every race, creed, sexuality, and gender is equal, is embraced, and is loved. Hate will never win.”
Tonys: James Corden Gives Somber Opening on Orlando Shooting https://t.co/vVdfltQoHb
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 13, 2016
Additionally, weapons have been eliminated from performances from Hamilton in tonight's show, according to The Hollywood Reporter:
Reports surfaced early Sunday afternoon that the cast of Hamilton, which is expected to dominate the awards with a record 16 nominations, will drop the use of prop muskets from the number being performed during the Tony telecast. Given that Lin-Manuel Miranda's blockbuster musical climaxes with the fatal shooting of Alexander Hamilton by Aaron Burr in a duel, it was a given that the tragic resonance with the weekend's gun violence would not go unnoted.
The Hamilton performance of two battle songs, “History Has Its Eyes on You” and “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down),” featuring nominated stars Miranda and Christopher Jackson, is scheduled near the end of the ceremony.
Veteran Broadway costumer William Ivey Long, a six-time Tony winner, designed special silver ribbons for the occasion to be worn by nominees and presenters in tribute to the Orlando victims.
